May 1st - Angel's Landing Hike at Zion

We won a lottery permit to hike Angel's Landing! It's a 5.5-mile round trip hike with about 1,500 foot elevation gain to the top. The last 500 feet and 3/4 mile is very steep - There are heavy, chain-link hand rails. Foot holds are worn into the sandstone. Some of the pitches are so steep that I used the chain as a climbing rope while pushing with my feet on the side of the slope for resistance. There was one part where you hold the chain chest high while traversing a steep slope. There are parts so steep that you don't want to pass someone without the security of a hand hold on the chain. At those spots, traffic uphill and downhill has to yield in turn.

The Park Service paved the first third or so of the trail, where it is two lanes wide. On the steeper slopes they poured the concrete over a matrix of steel rectangles. Imagine filling an ice tray at an angle. I can't help but wonder about the timing of it all. How long of a section can you pour at a time? How long do you wait for the bottom concrete section to setup so it can hold the weight from above?

They widened and leveled some turnarounds by building stacked stone retaining walls and filling in the space. The views of the narrow canyon got better and better as you climbed. At the top, you feIt like you were on the top of the world. It was the best hiking trail ever - by light years!

The trail switches back and forth across a sheer face that has numerous climbing routes. We saw several groups working their way up the sheer face. Angie was eye-level with one group today. They say it is a two-day climb, so climbers tie themselves off in hammocks for the night at some point. 
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By 1:00 pm,  we were back in camp. We decided to ride our bikes 1.5 miles into town for a cold beer in an air conditioned sports bar-. Grabbed some lunch while we were there. Then we rode home and climbed in the truck to drive 30 minutes to the dog boarder's home. We had a joyful reunion with the dogs, who wanted to snuggle a lot and hang out in the campsite with us. We finished with a 1.5 mile walk on a level river walk with the dogs. Tomorrow it's off to the Grand Canyon!